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Suggestions for scrounging scrap

09-24-2007, 04:34 PM

I'm broke neck scooter tramp familiarizing my self with my new Millermatic 180 and could use some suggestions on where and how to aquire a large quantity of scrap metal, all types I can use to run beads, run beads, run beads, and then some more beads in order to get good at it and the numerous settings I'll have to learn to find for each of the different metals I hope to use. I'm just wondering because with the prices skyrocketing for everything used in production building and construction, I know metal has probably surpassed them all. Appreciate any good ideas anyone comes up with. As introduction, my name is William Hill, (Willy d.) currently residing in Phoenix, AZ and attending ASU West Campus, School of Global Business Management & Leadership. Really appreciate the assistance and information.
Willy d. Phoenix, AZ

Are there any welding shops or fabrication shops around your area ? Check the yellow pages or ask around. This is where I would start. Most places save any useable pieces for future projects but all shops have scrap on a daily basis that they sell in bulk to a large company to melt down. Im sure any of them would give you some to practice with.

Comment

Hey neighbor - I am in Scottsdale. Have you been to Davis Salvage on Washington and about 36th street? I love that place! All sorts of things piled sky high. Or, I get my metal at Southwest Steel at Deer Valley and 23rd Ave-they have a remnants rack where you can pick up end pieces for reasonable. I'd offer you some of my scrap but I can't bear to part with a single piece of metal cuz I know I can make something out of it! Cat

p.s. Another place with tons of "junk" is Apache Reclaimation which is somewhere off I-10 and about 7th St. or 7th Ave. Make sure you get thru the building to the outside yard.

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Do you ever read Craigslist? If not, you should. It's a free internet want ad service. There is a "Free" section and a "Materials" section that often have various scrap available. I just picked up a slab of 1/2" steel, 10" x 75" that was free, leftover from a remodeling job.

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I lived & worked in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area in the mid-1970's, now I understand that there are gated communities out by the Scottsdale Airport where I used to hunt!

Back to the question at hand - all of the metal supply shops here sell their scrap metal by the pound vesus by linear or sq foot. I usually order what I want for a project - then shop their scrap shelves for stuff I can usually use.

Ca is an enviro-nazi state and the "transfer stations" don't allow you to pick up "recylable" metals...

Steve

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welcome to the site, always good to have more idea's and questions, so feel free to ask any you may have. every one had to start at some point.
i pick up a lot on trash day, been a long time sense i saw a bed frame as a bed frame instead of usable steel. people throw out a lot of steel stuff, you just have to see past the object to the steel its made of, paint and some rust can be removed to allow for practice.
a 4.5" grinder and some flap disks and wire wheels will really help out there.

thanks for the help
......or..........
hope i helped
sigpic feel free to shoot me an e-mail direct i have time to chat.james@newyorkmetalart.comsummer is here, plant a tree. if you don't have space or time to plant one sponsor some one else to plant one for you. a tree is an investment in our planet, help it out.
JAMES

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One man's junk is another man's treasure. Keep an eye out for metal items people are throwing away-(bed frames, pipes, various metal frames, etc), take them home, cut them to pieces with your chop saw and weld away. There is a salvage yard that I go to and get more pieces of steel than I can weld, cheap too. Great for practicing, there is tons of metal items to practice welding out there, just gotta keep an eye out and grab it when you see it.

Comment

Do you ever read Craigslist? If not, you should. It's a free internet want ad service. There is a "Free" section and a "Materials" section that often have various scrap available. I just picked up a slab of 1/2" steel, 10" x 75" that was free, leftover from a remodeling job.

Gary

This is an excellent source for a various types of practice materials.

I've picked up everything from broken bicycle, lawn mowers, and even just plain old 'scrap metal'. Most recently I got a free 60 gallon tank from an air compressor, spent $10 on fittings and put it in line as a down stream reservoir.

Most of the stuff we cut up and weld back together, when we are done with it we go at it with the O/A torch or Plasma Cutter depending on our mood.

We even picked up two go-cart frames ... but we aint chopping them up, we got plans that involve them and a couple of Kohler 2 cylinder motors we got.

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I was out jogging this morning, and people were already putting their bulky trash out on the curb -- tomorrow must be our once-a-month "bulky item" pick up day. Saw some old stainless steel counter top being dumped. Now if I can only (a) get my lazy a$$ in my car, and (b) remember which street it was on before someone else takes it...

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I got a bud with a scrap yard and I snag a few pieces from there when they are nice but I also source a lot of sheet metal, custom shapes, microwave covers are very useful, appliances have extensive sheet fabrication and nice finish work, saves a ton on paint. Office furniture has a lot of fab work, lots of bent rectangular tubing, nice if you can cut it from scrap vs needing the tooling to fabricate it. I made some machine covers a while back I need to get a couple pics of, saves a ton of time and material.

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This table was a free deal, very nice, all the wheels worked and even has a shelf underneath. The top is a lid from an old freezer and the screw tray an electric fixture with plates tacked in. Didn't really buy any materials or do substantial work.

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im pushing jobs all the time and i get 2-300 lbs of scrap steel every month. i got about 5-6000 lbs on a trailer now and im adding to it daily. i tack all the pieces on and its getting very heavy. helps to be ironworker